Dian Harlin

Details: Dian Harlin was married to a quirky fisherman named Hugh Harlin and they lived in Morro Bay, California. Hugh and Dian were both known locally as eccentric, but their relationships with others differed. Hugh was somewhat sociable with others and enjoyed his work as a fisherman and tinker, whereas Dian maintained few social contacts, and had become known in social circles as "The Dog Lady" due to the gossip. According to Hugh, Dian cared more about her dogs than she did for him.

Hugh Harlin

They where known locally to have a stormy marriage, with her squandering his meager income and doing things to intentionally enrage him. She often used his money and spent in on her dogs, her friends, and even beggars. Sometimes, she would serve him dog food for dinner. According to one rumor, she even baked dog food into a casserole for him.
On October 13, 1982, the badly-decomposed body of a woman was found just off the beach at Morro Bay. A jade bracelet and a silver bracelet were found nearby. The victim had been strangled with a dog leash. At first, the woman could not be identified, so a description of her was released to the public. A friend urged Hugh to go to the police, believing that the victim was Dian.
When he met with investigators, he identified the bracelets as belonging to Dian. He claimed that she had been away from home for twelve days, last being seen on October 2. He said he was not worried until he heard about the body. Investigators considered Hugh a suspect since he never reported her missing and had an obviously stormy relationship with her. However, he claimed that she would often leave for days without contacting him.
When they asked him about the day he last saw her, he claimed that the dogs had come home that night with their leashes on. However, when the investigators told him that she had been strangled with a dog leash, he abruptly revised his statement and claimed that her dogs found their way home and were without their leashes. The change in his story made investigators more suspicious of him. He asked for an attorney and did not want to be questioned further.
He later claimed that the police were wrong and that Dian's death was not a homicide. He believed that she had died as a result of an aneurysm, which she had sought treatment for in the past. Police considered him a suspect but never charged him in connection with the murder. Although investigators later stated that they didn't believe he committed the murder, they felt that he knew more about it than he claimed, and may have been concealing facts out of fear. Four years passed; then, on November 1, 1986, he went to a friend's house to borrow some tools for a two-day construction job in San Siemian, twenty-seven miles away. He left that evening and was never seen again.
A few days later, friends found his pickup truck deserted on the side of the road near the town of Cambria. Several personal possessions were left behind in the truck, including his glasses, backpack, sleeping bag, and some tins containing tobacco and ragweed pot. A few feet away, the truck's keys were found on the ground. His friends later discovered that a fuel line had been removed from his truck.
Some people believe he vanished on his own due to guilt about Dian's murder. Some of his friends believe that he may have just left for other reasons. Several people believe he was harmed by the person who killed Dian. They don't believe that he would have left his truck on the side of the road.Suspects: Hugh Harlin was considered a suspect by police, but he was never charged and some now believe that an unknown person killed Dian, and Hugh was killed by that same person because he knew too much.Extra Notes: The case was featured as a part of the April 6, 1994 episode.Results: UnsolvedLinks: